Monday, July 23, 2007

Sleepless, Headache, Night Wean?

Yep, Marin is STILL not sleeping.

I have a headache that's headed towards a migraine. I took so Excedrin, so soon I'll be all shaky and hopefully headache free.

I think I need to night wean this kid.

I remember doing this with the twins. Or at least, I remember that we did it, but I don't remember any of the details. I think I just decided I'm not going to nurse them anymore at night, so instead I would send David in to comfort them. After awhile, they quit waking so much; they realized they was no milk coming so they might as well sleep. At least, in my best-case-scenario mind this is how it went. As I said, I don't actually remember.

But I think we need to try it with Marin. She is up every 45 minutes or so, sometimes more, sometimes less, and all she want is the boob. In fact, she's spent most of her life using a combo of nursing and pacifier to go to sleep, but in the last few days she's started to refuse the pacifier, even when she's no longer nursing for food but just for suckling. This sparkling new habit may just drive me over the edge.

As I'm writing this, I'm realizing that these sleep issues are so complex and many layered and that I no longer want to talk about it. All I know is that she is getting worse instead of better. She's slowly chipping away at my opinion of her as an "easy" baby. Also, she used to sleep all night.

5 comments:

my daugther is 10 months old and still waking at night as well. and i nurse her. my older daughter slept 7 to 7 no waking from very early on. we need to do the wean thing as well too, but waiting till after our trip. GOOD LUCK. maybe it is just teething ??? (sick of hearing that huh ?)

I was struck by the instant (or what seemed to be) sleeping through the night that occured as soon as I weaned Becca.

I was a total and complete freak about sleep (still am, frankly) and tried everything. Healthy Sleep Habits, No Cry Sleep Solution. Even Ferber. Those things helped a little. But as soon as she was weaned she started sleeping through. It seemed pretty quick. NOT FAIR I say.

I remember deciding to night wean Calum. The night I really made the commitment to do it, I drank a glass of wine & took 2 Tylenol PMs. And I practically had to tie myself to the bed to remember to NOT GET UP. It was hard, but only for a few nights. A few nights seems like forever at the time though.

About Me

I am a mother of four, wife, doula, childbirth educator, and avid reader. My husband David and I have 10 year old twin girls (Jan '03) named Joan and Kate, and a 6 year old daughter (Sept '06) named Marin and a 1 year old named Olive. We are trying to live an honest, simple, and green life here in Tiny Town.